


gravity all nonsense now

by harpers_mirror (SapphireBryony)



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Episode Tag, Episode: s05e07 The Performer, F/M, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, maybe platonic maybe shippy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-28
Updated: 2019-01-28
Packaged: 2019-10-18 02:40:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17572736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SapphireBryony/pseuds/harpers_mirror
Summary: The first annual meeting of the Injured Agents Club, en route from LA to Quantico. On the agenda: apologies, guilt, comfort, and A Clockwork Orange.





	gravity all nonsense now

The plane's lights had been dimmed and JJ's aching head appreciated that fact immensely. Around her, the rest of her team had retreated into quiet solo activities or sleep.  
  
She sighed and shifted restlessly. Being concussed sucked, not just for the dully throbbing pain the shovel blow had left behind, but also for the boredom. Reading made her eyes cross and the headache increase and she'd accidentally left her headphones behind in California. JJ had longed for some peace and quiet earlier, for all of her friends to stop hovering, but now she'd welcome pretty much any distraction.  
  
Shifting again, she accidentally kicked Reid. He'd refused to budge from his watchful seat at her feet for two hours now, although he was currently engrossed reading something on his laptop. Or rather, he had been until she'd kicked him.  
  
"Sorry, Spence," she said quietly as he looked up, startled. "Just trying to get comfortable."  
  
"I can move - " he said and started to get up, only to remember he had a lap full of computer and a pair of crutches to contend with. Now it was his turn to sigh. "Okay, maybe I can't, but I can try to rearrange here..."  
  
"Spence." JJ's voice was exasperated but she was smiling. "You're fine where you are."  
  
"You're sure?" he asked, still looking worried.  
  
"Promise," she replied. "And I promise I'm fine. Or I will be."  
  
Reid looked away and swallowed hard. "I am so sorry, Jennifer."  
  
"Breaking out the full name, huh? You must feel bad." Her tone was light, trying to diffuse the emotion.  
  
He laughed, voice a little choked. "I guess. But still, I should have realized something was wrong, I knew there were too many things that didn't fit after we arrested Dante. And if anything had happened to you because of my mistake, I - "  
  
"Spence." JJ leaned forward, ignoring the fresh wave of pain, and caught his hand, stilling his nervous twisting of his laptop cord. "Hey. Look at me."  
  
He obeyed.   
  
"I'm fine. Everybody is fine and we caught the crazy vampire people. But you know that this job comes with risks. We've all accepted that."  
  
Reid nodded, still looking concerned. "I know. It's just hard being stuck in the office and not knowing what's happening or if everyone is okay."  
  
She smiled gently at him and squeezed his hand before dropping it. "Quite the pair, huh? The injured agents club over here."  
  
He smiled back. "I vote we freeze membership."  
  
"Sustained. What were you reading?" JJ reached down to rummage through her bag, pulling out the painkillers Hotch had given her earlier.  
  
Reid passed her a bottle of water. "I was curious about the whole Beethoven/Clockwork Orange joke from earlier, so I found the book online. It's... unusual. Alex seems like someone we'd end up profiling. But Burgess's use of the conlang Natsat to reinforce the alien and detached nature of Alex and his gang is quite effective. It's also making me read more slowly, which is an interesting experience in and of itself."  
  
"So it'll take you, what, ten minutes to read instead of two?" she teased.  
  
"Maybe as many as fifteen," he replied, deadpan.  
  
"I've never actually read the book," said JJ. "But I've seen the movie a couple of times. Definitely a weird one."  
  
"I'm getting that sense."   
  
She shifted again, trying to get comfortable, but her pillow had gone flat and unyielding. "I swear, if I have to stare at the ceiling of this plane for another five minutes, _I'm_ going to go on a ultraviolence spree."  
  
He looked like he was about to speak, then changed his mind, glancing away.   
  
"What is it?" she asked.  
  
Reid looked uncomfortable. "I was going to offer to read it to you, since you're not able to do anything else, and that's kind of my fault and I definitely don't want you going on a murder spree of the plane, but I - "  
  
Part of being friends with Spencer Reid included knowing when to cut off his rambling. "Spence, it's okay. I'd like that, actually. Don't know how well I'm going to be able to focus, but the distraction would be nice."  
  
"Oh," he said, looking surprised. "Good!"  
  
JJ moved in their shared seat so that he could lean back against her while he read. She still wasn't exactly _comfortable_ but it was definitely better than before.   
  
He started to read aloud, voice pitched so that only she could hear him. One of her hands made its way into his long hair, twisting the curls around her fingers. She closed her eyes and lost herself in the wash of his words.


End file.
